The Alpha's Baby (17 page)

As her car spun around, she wrapped her arms around her stomach, trying to protect the baby within her. The car collided with a massive pine tree and came to a halt with a sickening
crunch
. For an awful moment, everything was still.

My baby!
she thought, pressing her hand against her waist. Luckily, she was certain that her unborn child was fine. Her shoulders slumped with relief. Unfortunately, that was when she realized that she'd almost hit somebody. She peered in the rearview mirror and saw a figure standing in the rain. What was he, a guy on a suicide mission? It was one thing to endanger his own life by walking out in front of a car, but it was another thing entirely to hurt somebody else.

Both furious and concerned, she jumped out the door.

"What the hell is going on?" She stomped through the rain, heading toward the figure.

The man who'd stepped in front of her car turned toward her, and she recognized who it was at once. It was Jake. Oh God, she'd walked straight into his trap. She took a staggering step backward as his dark eyes turned a poisonous green. With a scream of terror, she slipped and fell to her knees. Jake took another step toward her as his face began to change.

His skin became covered in chestnut-colored fur. Soon his face elongated, revealing a thick snout. White fangs curved over dark lips. His back bent, and his bones let out loud cracking sounds. A dark tail sprung from his body, whipping through the sheets of rain.

Oh God, it was a…a…

"Werewolf!" she screamed.

And unfortunately, that was when he began to snarl. Even then, during what was the scariest moment of her life, her first thought was to protect her unborn child. If she died, then the baby would die too. She gasped and, with momentum startling for a woman that hadn't gone to the gym in the past five years, hurtled herself toward her car.

Flinging herself inside, she prayed that her engine still worked despite the fact that she'd run into a tree. She put the car in reverse and, thank God, the car rushed backward. There was a big bang and then a dull
thud
. Had she hit him? Not stopping to find out, she put the car into drive and hurtled down the road. When she glanced in the rearview mirror, she saw that Jake was in the middle of the road staring at her car.

Shit. She may have hit him, but he definitely wasn't dead. 

Still, he couldn't catch her now, could he? As thoughts whirled in her head, fat tears of anguish poured down her face. She cried in fear and pain and confusion. What the hell had just happened? Werewolves weren't supposed to be real. Maybe she was having some sort of confusing dream related to pregnancy hormones. She pinched her leg and felt pain, but she didn't wake up from her nightmare. No, she had to face the facts that this was reality, and if this was reality, then that meant werewolves were real.

Double shit.

She let out a loud sob, certain that her life would never be the same again. At that moment, Sebastian's words echoed in her mind:
"No, sweetheart, I'm saying that I'm a…a…werewolf."
She was so horrified that she almost drove her car straight into a tree again. The only thing that held her back was the fact that she was certain that Jake was following behind her, and she didn't think that her car would survive another collision. After all, the scent of burning rubber already filled the car, reminding her of how lucky she was her vehicle was still running to begin with.

But if Sebastian was a werewolf, then what the hell did that mean? And worse yet, what did that mean for her baby? She stared down at her stomach in openmouthed horror, half expecting to hear growling coming from her womb. Her baby was a werewolf, which meant that it was monstrous like Jake. No, wait, she refused to think of her baby as a monster. It was her child. She couldn't do that.

Yet she couldn't say that she didn't think of Sebastian as a monster. Her fists tightened on the steering wheel as she thought of him. Boy, she was angry, and she thought she had the right to be. Sebastian had hidden so much from her. He may have been the father of her baby, but she knew nothing about him. He was a stranger. And worse yet, he was a
dangerous
stranger.

A stranger she had to escape from.

When Emmy pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building, she was bawling her eyes out. Cursing and weeping, she climbed out of the car. She glanced around, making sure that she didn't see Jake standing beneath the eaves of her building. When she didn't spot anyone, she crept inside and rushed up the stairs to her apartment. Her goal was to pack and then head straight to her parents' house. As far as she was aware, neither Jake nor Sebastian knew where her mom and dad lived. She would be safe there.

She was just in the middle of unlocking her apartment when Mary Lou stuck her head out her door. The woman was wearing a bright green face mask. Emmy jumped back in fright, half-worried that she was seeing a toad monster. Unfortunately, Mary Lou must have thought that she looked just as horrible because her mouth fell open in shock.

"What the hell happened to you?" Mary Lou stared at her rain-soaked appearance.

"No time to explain." Emmy managed to unlock her door. "I have to get out of here."

"What?" Mary Lou stepped toward her, her eyes wide with concern. "What's going on? Why are you acting like this?"

Emmy whirled around, shaking from head to foot. "I can't explain. Just get in your apartment and lock the door."

"But why?"

"Just lock the door!" Emmy screamed.

Mary Lou did a double take but then scampered back to her apartment.

Emmy rushed inside of her place and headed to her bedroom. She seized an overnight bag and stuffed clothes inside of it. Despite the fact that she was sure she had more pants than underwear, she didn't care. She swung her bag over her shoulder and was just about to head out the door when the thought of Sebastian made her pause. The guy would undoubtedly try to come after her. At the moment, she was willing to do anything in order to stop that from happening. She pulled a pen and paper from a drawer. Quickly, she scrawled a note on the piece of paper.

Sebastian,

I know you've been lying to me, so don't you dare try to figure out where I am. I don't want you in my life. You're too dangerous, and I can't trust you.

Emmy

She hesitated before placing the note on the counter, but then she remembered the frightening face of werewolf Jake. That was enough to make her set the note down and run out the door.

****

By the time Emmy made it to her parents' house, it was near eleven o'clock. Still, when she banged frantically on the door, she heard the sound of footsteps. Her mom opened the door and did a double take when she saw her. Emmy realized that she must have looked terrible. After all, she'd made her mom look horrified on more than one occasion, but she'd never seen the woman look quite so green.

"Emmy, what on earth?" Her mom blinked rapidly.

Emmy barged inside, getting her mom's frilly pink nightgown damp.

"Mom, I'm going to stay here for a while." Emmy dumped her overnight bag on the floor.

"What's wrong?" her mom asked, wringing her pudgy hands.

Instead of answering, Emmy stared at the woman.

"Oh my God, were you raped?" Her mom clapped her hand to her mouth.

"No, Mom, I wasn't raped." No one in her family had ever been raped, but her mom was ever vigilant. "I just need a break from Seattle."

"I told you that a big city was no place for a woman alone." Her mom tutted. "And you shouldn't have gone out in the rain."

Emmy shrugged, shaking from head to foot. But she wasn't shaking from cold. No, she was shaking because she kept thinking about Jake and Sebastian and her unborn baby. There was so much for her to be stressed about. Another tear trickled down her cheek before she could stop it.

At the sight of the tear, her mom's maternal instincts went into overdrive. "Oh, sweetie, don't cry."

"I'm not crying," she said through gritted teeth. The only thing she hated more than crying was crying in front of somebody else.

"Of course you're not." Her mom soothed her by running her hand over her arm. "Say, we have stuffed peppers left over from supper. Why don't I heat you a plate, huh?"

"Is there cake, too?" Emmy sniffled.

"Is there ever not cake in this house?" Her mom wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her toward the kitchen. "Come on, now."

She allowed herself to be led into the kitchen. The kitchen was adjoined with the dining room where her dad was drinking beer and reading the newspaper. When he saw her, he froze. Normally, her dad was calm, but at that moment, his face became red and his eyes narrowed. To her, he looked like a strange sort of bearded beet.

"What happened to you?" Her dad looked like he was itching to get his hand on his hunting gun.

"Nothing," Emmy said.

Her dad grunted. "You've never been a great liar."

Emmy sighed.

"Let's just get some food in you." Her mom escorted her over to the counter. "Then while you're eating, you can tell me everything."

That was her mom's way—comfort food and then communication. Not that Emmy had any intention of communicating beyond grunts. 

"Okay," Emmy whispered.

After she leaned against the counter, her mom pulled a plate of stuffed peppers from the refrigerator. The woman stuck them in the microwave. Immediately, the smell of cooked beef filled the air. Something about the smells and the warmth of the kitchen made Emmy feel like a child again. Suddenly, her legs became weak as she longed to retreat to her bedroom and cry.

Likely noticing her trembling, her mom ran her hand down Emmy's arm. Despite the fact that Emmy was an adult who'd always valued her independence, she melted against the woman and let out a heartbroken sob. Emmy couldn't believe what was happening. She had a stalker, and now there were werewolves, and…and…

Oh God.

No matter how many times she thought about werewolves, the truth was still hard to swallow. Luckily, her mom held her closer, comforting her by running her fingers through her hair. During that moment, Emmy longed to be calmed and loved. And more than anything, she wanted those stuffed peppers in the microwave. After all, a full belly always helped warm her heart.

"I'm hungry, Mom," she whispered as the microwave beeped.

Her mom patted her arm and handed her a fork. "Of course you are."

The woman pulled the plate of stuffed peppers out of the microwave. Emmy took the plate and shoved a bite of food in her mouth. The tangy mixture of ground beef, rice, and cheese was just what she needed. She squeezed her eyes shut and groaned, hoping that the food would fill the cracks in her heart like cement. A moment went by. No such luck. Oh well, the food was still good anyway.

After her mom watched her eat for a moment, she said, "Tell me what's going on."

"Like I said, it's nothing." Emmy spoke with her cheeks full of stuffed peppers.

Her mom's eyes narrowed in a frightening way that only an authoritative parent could manage. "Emmy."

"Really, nothing's wrong." She wrinkled her nose.

"Emmy Ellison, you tell me the truth this instant," her mom said.

To this, Emmy said nothing.

"You have to the count of five," her mom said. "One."

Emmy wondered what would happen when the woman got to five. Would the earth explode? Would she be sucked into an alternate dimension by some sort of hellish super power?

"Two." Her mom narrowed her eyes.

Emmy chewed her bottom lip but didn't speak.

"Three."

Okay, nervous sweat was forming on her forehead now.

"Four." Her mom's eyebrow twitched.

Emmy took a step back, half expecting fireballs to burst from her mom's nostrils when she reached the last number.

"Five," her mom said.

Silence.

"What now?" Emmy stared at her parent, shocked that the gates to hell hadn't appeared right in the middle of the kitchen.

Her mom wrung her hands. "You know what, I don't know."

Her dad let out a bark of laughter from the dining room. If the situation had been different, Emmy might have laughed, too. But she couldn't. She placed her fork down on her plate and took a deep breath.

"For heaven's sake, please tell me." Her mom sounded desperate. "I'm worried about you."

Emmy could see the concern in her mom's eyes, and guilt came crashing over her. No, it more than came crashing over her. Guilt tackled her to the ground, beat her senseless, and then threw her into the oven to be baked until she turned to ash. She groaned, cracking under the pressure. Though she couldn't tell her mom about the werewolves, there was still news she had to share. Big news.

In shame, Emmy hung her head and said, "I'm pregnant."

Her mom craned her neck, eyes wide with disbelief. "What was that?"

"I'm pregnant." She tried to swallow her pain.

"But you aren't married," her mom said dumbly.

"I know," she said.

Her dad marched into the kitchen with his mustache twitching. His eyes bulged out of his head and his fists were clenched at his sides. She realized that werewolves should have been the least of her worries. After all, it looked as though her dad just might kill her. She backed up until her rear end hit the counter, wondering if she was going to be incinerated due to the heat of her dad's glare.

"What did I just hear?" her dad asked quietly. Too quietly.

"I'm pregnant," she repeated.

"What?" Her dad threw up his hands.

"Calm down, Doug," her mom said, startling Emmy.

Normally, it was her mom who grew horns and started breathing fire. Her dad was the calm one who snuck her chocolate from the pantry and told her funny stories. Her dad's wrath was frightening, and it was something that she never wanted to endure again.

"I raised you to be a good girl," he said. "How could you do this?"